It's official - the vote was 222-119.
If passed into law, public workers in NH would become "at-will" employees at the end of their contracts in all respects - including wages.
House Speaker Bill O'Brien was too scared to do it tomorrow, as it was scheduled, because tomorrow is going to be the biggest rally our state capitol has seen in decades. (The Twitter hashtag is #rally4nh)
He also refused to allow the debate on the bill to enter the permanent house journal. So much for transparency.
But the "Worse than Wisconsin" attack on basic labor rights in New Hampshire (which the GOP controlled Senate is already signaling it may not support) is only one part of the nightmare budget that will be voted on in full tomorrow.
Hundred of workers will be laid off as a result. The GOP were voted in to help the economy and jobs, and as a result scores of NH families will be plunged into economic freefall.
Millions in scholarship money, raided by the House GOP.
Funding for NH public universities cut so steep (in half!) that it's an open question as to whether they can be called "public" anymore.
Cuts to mental health services so inhuman they almost certainly violate the Americans with Disabilities act.
Here's House Finance Chair Ken Weyler's reason why mental health services should be cut:
Weyler, a Republican from Kingston, charged that mental health providers encourage people to become “patients for life” to preserve state funding.
“By cutting the amount of help we’re willing to offer, we’d like them to discover that some of these people can be cured,” Weyler said. “You shouldn’t keep them just so you can keep your revenue coming in.”
Weyler said if a woman went to a mental health center for help with postpartum depression, the center would keep her as a patient for the rest of her life. In reality, he said, the woman might no longer need services after a year, once her baby became “a little more animated.”
…”It’s up to the mental health practitioners,” Weyler said. “If they find someone who is really a danger to themselves and others, but don’t try to stabilize them, and they say, ‘Aha, this guy is going to go out and do something really strange, but if we turn him away, we can say, ah, we were right, you cheap bums.’ “
You read that right. The chairman of one of the most powerful committees in state government alleges, on the basis of no evidence, that mental health professionals mistreat the mentally ill for profit.
This is the kind of radical ideology, breathtaking ignorance, and downright maliciousness we have running New Hampshire thanks to a lousy mid-term election.
If you are a praying person (I am not, but times like these...), I beg you to pray for the innocent people of New Hampshire who will be harmed by this budget. That is what a collection of Granite State clergy are doing right now at the Speaker's office in the state capitol, and what they will be doing all night long and into tomorrow:
Dear Speaker O’Brien,
We are a small group of New Hampshire clergy and others from several communities and faith traditions. In recent weeks we have closely followed discussions and debates over the state budget. As people who believe in loving our neighbors, and as people who believe that we are unambiguously responsible to advocate for and serve those who are most vulnerable among us, we are deeply troubled by the dramatic cuts in funds for essential services contained in the budget proposal which will be before the House on Wednesday and Thursday. In addition, we are in profound distress over proposals to lessen the responsibilities of communities to care for those most in need and to undermine the collective rights of those who serve our communities as teachers, firefighters, public safety officers, and as other public servants.
It is our intent to conduct a prayerful vigil at your offices during the budget deliberations Wednesday and staying through the night until the budget vote is completed. During this time we plan to share silence, readings and prayers consecrated to different populations impacted by the proposed budget.
We pray our sisters and brothers in the Legislature will be moved by our prayerful witness.
Sincerely,
Rev. Dr. Mary Westfall, Durham
Rev. Dr. Frank Irvine, Concord
Rev. William Exner, Goffstown
Gregory Heath, Canterbury
Mark Barker, Boscawen
Arnie Alpert, Canterbury
L. R. Berger, Contoocook
Barbara French, Henniker
The New Hampshire GOPers defend this nightmare they are about to inflict on us by repeating the refrain that NH has a spending problem.
They are correct, but not in the way they mean. We rank 45th out of 50 in state spending per person, and we have one of the most regressive tax systems in the nation, where the richest pay the least and the middle class and poor the most.
It will take years to undo the damage being done right now. Please pray for us.
UPDATE: After being kicked out of the Speaker's office, police later removed the clergy from the statehouse entirely. A new release tonight:
Religious Activists Escorted from State House, Plan to Return Tomorrow
Photos available for download at inzanetimes.wordpress.com.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE --- Seven religious leaders opposed to cuts in human services and anti-union provisions of the proposed state budget were escorted from the State House by police at 7:30 PM after a five and a half hour prayer vigil at the office of Speaker of the House William O’Brien.
The religious leaders will return to the State House Thursday morning to continue their vigil, while the House continues its consideration of the budget.
The vigil began shortly after 2 PM, when the group, Voices of Faith for a Humane Budget, arrived at the Speakers office and announced their intention to begin a prayer vigil. As Rev. Bill Exner, of St. Matthews Episcopal Church in Goffstown, prayed and read from the book of Isaiah, a member of the Speaker’s staff and State House Security ordered the group to leave the office.
For the next five and a half hours the group sat in the hallway outside the office, where they shared prayers, songs, periods of silence, and discussion of the many issues at stake in the state budget debate. Members of the group decried the impact of the proposed budget on the state’s most vulnerable residents and its public employees.
Following the House vote in favor of House Bill 2, which contained provisions limiting collective bargaining rights and lessening the responsibility of cities and towns to care for their neediest residents, the vigil concluded with a song and a prayer for public sector workers. State Troopers stood nearby, and then proceeded to escort the vigilers from the building.
In a letter delivered to the Speaker’s office Tuesday afternoon, the group said “In recent weeks we have closely followed discussions and debates over the state budget. As people who believe in loving our neighbors, and as people who believe that we are unambiguously responsible to advocate for and serve those who are most vulnerable among us, we are deeply troubled by the dramatic cuts in funds for essential services contained in the budget proposal, which will be before the House on Wednesday and Thursday.”
“In addition,” the letter said, “we are in profound distress over proposals to lessen the responsibilities of communities to care for those most in need and to undermine the collective rights of those who serve our communities as teachers, firefighters, public safety officers, and other public servants.”
In addition to Rev. Exner, participants in the prayer vigil included
Rev. Dr. Mary Westfall, Pastor of the Community Church of Durham,
Rev. Dr. Frank Irvine, of Concord, a retired United Church of Christ pastor,
Gregory Heath, of Canterbury, co-clerk Concord Friends Meeting (Quaker), and a member of the Oxbow Zen Sangha, a Canterbury based Buddhist group,
Mark Barker, of Boscawen, a member of Concord Friends Meeting (Quaker),
Arnie Alpert, of Canterbury, the New Hampshire Program Coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee,
L. R. Berger, of Contoocook, Northeast Regional Associate, Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service, and
Barbara French, a member of the Henniker Congregational Church, who had to leave at 4:30 PM.
Rev. Kendra Ford of the Exeter Unitarian Universalist Church joined the vigil for about two hours.